Dear visitor, welcome to SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers. If this is your first visit here, please read the Help. It explains how this page works. You must be registered before you can use all the page's features. Please use the registration form, to register here or read more information about the registration process. If you are already registered, please login here.

Advice, opinions, or just a source of amusement?

I'm completely new to irrigation, but have a controller and am adding some zones to our backyard where there have never been any. The house we're in is circa early 1960's, a front yard sprinkler system was in place when we moved in, seven zones in the front do work pretty well. The installed left a stubbed off 1" PVC heading to the back yard, so that was nice of them and I'm making good use of it.

I had a leak near the front water meter recently so we dug the whole thing up. (the fresh PVC, 3/4" stuff, replaced the cracked 1" PVC stuff that was there. I viewed it as a temporary fix while I figured this out.)

The City of Irving, Texas, tells me I have a 3/4" water meter. One end of it says "Hersey 5/8", so is it really not 3/4"?

Is this a backflow preventer? If so, if this was your home, would you leave it alone and bury it again, or replace it? On either end were corroded off bits that looked like they might have been valve levers (where the rusty places are).

Does this copper loop-the-loop make any sense from a plumbing perspective, or was it just a guy using what he had to get it all in the hole after teeing in the sprinkler system much later?

This post has been edited 2 times, last edit by "manowell" (Sep 7th 2015, 11:29am)

Step one. Take your photos to Tinypic.com and upload them there. You will get copy-and-paste options to bring the photos back here. (choose the one with the 'img' tags) Your link pointed to a password-protected website.

Tinypic will probably stick an ad into their anti-robots popup, but it's a small price to pay for free image hosting that is viewable anywhere.

Step one. Take your photos to Tinypic.com and upload them there. You will get copy-and-paste options to bring the photos back here. (choose the one with the 'img' tags) Your link pointed to a password-protected website.

Tinypic will probably stick an ad into their anti-robots popup, but it's a small price to pay for free image hosting that is viewable anywhere.

Smugmug is great for a lot of things, but apparently not this. I've get it fixed.

Step one. Take your photos to Tinypic.com and upload them there. You will get copy-and-paste options to bring the photos back here. (choose the one with the 'img' tags) Your link pointed to a password-protected website.

Tinypic will probably stick an ad into their anti-robots popup, but it's a small price to pay for free image hosting that is viewable anywhere.

You are in kind of an awkward place. You want that DCVA backflow preventer to be accessible for testing and repair. It was definitely not installed with that in mind. The water meter might be what is known as a 3/4 x 5/8 device, meaning it uses the 5/8 form, but has much better flow characteristics.

By the way, Texas has way upped their game as pertains to lawn sprinkler rules and regulations ($$$), so you might consider the possibility of first getting the plumbing right, before doing anything else. A pro would move the DCVA about a foot and get it into its own valve box, and get new handles for its valves.

You are in kind of an awkward place. You want that DCVA backflow preventer to be accessible for testing and repair. It was definitely not installed with that in mind. The water meter might be what is known as a 3/4 x 5/8 device, meaning it uses the 5/8 form, but has much better flow characteristics.

By the way, Texas has way upped their game as pertains to lawn sprinkler rules and regulations ($$$), so you might consider the possibility of first getting the plumbing right, before doing anything else. A pro would move the DCVA about a foot and get it into its own valve box, and get new handles for its valves.

That's the kind of input I'm looking for. Whereas I'm not dying to spend $$$ on this, right now I've got it all uncovered and would just as soon put it back right, if I can afford to.

That's the kind of input I'm looking for. Whereas I'm not dying to spend $$$ on this, right now I've got it all uncovered and would just as soon put it back right, if I can afford to.

The described work seems to be something you can handle. One additional detail would be for the box you install it in to be a full-depth (12-inches or more) one. Another detail is the possibility of adding a Y-pattern strainer upstream of the DCVA, which is likely a part of the new code in Texas. You kind of want this DCVA work to be both code-compliant, and completed and buried, before you go in adding sprinkler zones. You should have room in your DCVA box for a main sprinkler shutoff valve upstream of the DCVA (also a requirement)